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A woman who accused Nick Carter of raping her back in 2001 when she was 17 claims in a new legal filing that the Backstreet Boy singer’s countersuit is an attempt to “silence” her.
The new filing from Shannon “Shay” Ruth, who alleged Carter raped her during the boy band’s Black & Blue tour, states that Carter’s countersuit — where he says he’s been the victim of a “conspiracy” attempting to “harass, defame, and extort” him — was only filed to “harass,” “intimidate,” and silence her.
“He seeks to use his wealth and celebrity status to outlast plaintiff,” Ruth’s lawyers wrote in a Wednesday filing obtained by Rolling Stone. “All while hiding behind being the ‘victim’ of the ‘#MeToo’ movement and the preposterous notion that plaintiff is only seeking attention and publicity.”
Ruth’s attorneys hope to utilize Nevada’s anti-SLAPP laws to throw out Carter’s countersuit. The new filing specifically referred to the language Carter used in his counterclaim, where he called Ruth “a liar” that was “craving attention.” A rep for Carter did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment, and an attorney for Ruth had no further comment.
“More glaringly, he labels himself ‘an American icon,’ as if to openly brag to the Court and to Plaintiff that he is a person of influence,” the filing states. “It is exactly this type of claim that Nevada’s anti-SLAPP statute is designed to prevent, or at minimum require a claimant to demonstrate a probability he will prevail on the merits in order for his claim to proceed.”
In her original lawsuit, Ruth, who says she lives with autism and cerebral palsy, alleged Carter, who would have been 21 at the time, fed her a pink drink dubbed “VIP juice” that tasted alcoholic, ordered her to get on her knees, pulled down his pants and insisted she perform oral sex on him. She also alleged he instructed her on how to proceed even though she was crying.
Now 39, Ruth alleges Carter, who faced a similar allegation in the past that was not prosecuted, led her to a bed, “pushed” her down, and forcefully removed her pants when she resisted. Carter then allegedly attempted to orally copulate Ruth as she “begged him to stop,” the lawsuit obtained by Rolling Stone states.
“The last 21 years have been filled with pain, confusion, frustration, shame, and self-harm that are a direct result of Nick Carter raping me,” Ruth recently said at a press conference with her lawyer Mark Boskovich. “Even though I’m autistic and live with cerebral palsy, I believe nothing has affected me more …than what Nick Carter did to me.”
Carter denied the allegations in a statement from his attorney, who called Ruth’s claims “entirely untrue” and “legally meritless.”
“No one should be fooled by a press stunt orchestrated by an opportunistic lawyer – there is nothing to this claim whatsoever, which we have no doubt the courts will quickly realize,” lawyer Michael Holtz said at the time.
In Carter’s January countersuit, the singer seeks $2.35 million in damages. His legal team accused Ruth of being “manipulated into making false allegations by Melissa Schuman and her father, Jerome.
The lawsuit came after Schuman, a former member of the teen-pop group Dream, stepped forward in 2017 and accused Carter of sexually assaulting her in 2003. Los Angeles County prosecutors investigated Schuman’s claim and ultimately declined to file a case, saying the allegation was outside the 10-year statute of limitations.
